the moth miami: stories take the stage

last night was the very first The Moth in Miami and the stories were slamming. If you're unfamiliar with The Moth, it's an NPR initiativ, and Saturday afternoon show, of storytelling around a theme. There are judges in the audience and someone wins at the end, but it's not really about winning or losing as much as it is about telling a good story in five minutes. It's an exersise in "it's the journey not the destination." The Moth reminds you that storytelling is hard. For starters, just framing a beginning, middle and end in five minutes is hard.

If you're a fan of This American Life or were swept up in Serial fever, you won't want to miss the return of The Moth at The Stage next month when the theme is the very February-appropriate "Love Hurts."

The Stage was set up as I've never seen it, it felt like a hip theater instead of an indoor/outdoor lounge. The theme was "Firsts" and we heard stories about roomated losing their virginity (from an old friend of mine's father - what a nice surprise! Hi Bo!), coming out at the Grand Canyon (the big winner!) and baking a cake from scratch for the first time. We heard form Kanye West's cousin about his mother (seriously), from local commedian Jessica Gross and some other faces who are on the slam and comedy scene. Which got me thinking that I really have to get out and see more because these people were talented and funny and super Miami.